Illegal Immigrant Who Sued Police Charged with Assault

An illegal immigrant who is suing the Knoxville Police Department is now being charged with resisting arrest and assaulting officers during that arrest, according to WBIR-TV.

Last July, Knoxville police arrested Ernesto Delgadilo Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, after a domestic assault call. Rodriguez suffered a fractured face during the arrest.

This summer, Rodriguez filed a federal lawsuit against the arresting officers and the City of Knoxville.

According to the report by the NBC affiliate, law enforcement had dropped initial resisting arrest and assault charges against Rodriguez in November 2014 because they were under the impression that he was to be repatriated. Instead of going to Mexico, Rodriguez came back at the police department with a lawsuit.

His repatriation case is still pending in Memphis, WBIR reports.

Police released dashcam video of the Rodriguez arrest:

It shows Rodriguez being held by the first responding officer with one hand handcuffed, but repeatedly refuses to provide his other hand. Backup officers arrive and are shown pounding on Rodriguez to force him to submit to being restrained.

The federal lawsuit against KPD states Rodriguez would not give his hands because the handcuffs were too small and were hurting him. It also claims there was a language barrier, but Rodriguez can be heard speaking English in dashcam videos.

Rodriguez’s lawsuit claims the beating caused his injuries, but KPD said the blows shown in the video followed protocol and were delivered to Rodriguez’s shoulder-blade. KPD said the facial injuries occurred when Rodriguez was tackled and his face hit the street.

Rodriguez is slated to be arraigned in Knox County Criminal Court on September 10.